Hi, I have a Peplink SOHO Surf and SD Switch Rugged 16 port and admit to being out of my depth with the use of the switch’s admin software.
Assigning a port on the switch to a VLAN other than the default VLAN ensures whatever device plugged in there will not be able to connect to the internet via the router. So as of now all my devices connected to ports on the switch have to sit on the default VLAN (with Port Type set to Access) which means not being able to segregate the devices across different VLANs.
This was never an issue when using VLANS on the router by itself, be it via an onboard port or an SSID linked to a VLAN.
Clearly there is a gap in my understanding as to either some setting in the switch or the router. I have checked that there is no internal firewall rule on the router in case that is the culprit.
Alas ploughing though the switch manual has not helped and all examples online are for Cisco or Netgear switches.
Any advice or suggestions welcome as to where I should be looking or could have missed in creating VLANs on the switch or perhaps some mismatch with the router’s settings?
Conal
Are the ports between the Soho and the switch set to “Trunk” or “Access”?
If you’ve previously used the LAN ports on the Soho to put specific ports into a VLAN directly you may need to check that side first as you want a Trunk between the Soho and the switch.
This is from a 310-5G and a 24 Port switch but the interface / config should probably be similar for you:
Hello Will, thank you for the help and the images you posted. I have gone through and checked those settings in the Surf router and the SD switch to make sure they are as you said.
It did prompt to try and to assign the ports to VLAN (2) and see if it made a difference and indeed then the devices could now see the router, get assigned IP address and a DNS etc.
The odd thing is if I chose VLAN (3) or (4), then the devices (a LG TV and Apple TV 4K box) are back to losing sight of the router and they get assigned a random 169.254.x.x IP and no DNS.
So, when switch ports are assigned in the switch software to Default VLAN 1 or VLAN 2, devices connected to the port sees the router. Assign that port to some other VLAN that I create means anything connected to that port fails to see the router.
The settings on the switch for VLAN 2, 3 and 4 are all set to access, speed auto, enabled etc so I can’t spot any differences.
I am stumped but have left the devices on VLAN 2 where they seem happy. However there are other devices that I would like segregate onto VLAN 3 and 4 etc etc.
Any further advice is most welcome.
Could you post some screenshots of how you have the VLANs configure that don’t work both from the Soho side and also the switch side.
An example of how you configured vlan2 on the Soho and switch would also be helpful as a known working sample from your setup.
Will do, hopefully tomorrow.
Hi, sorry for the delay but I think thanks to your guidance I realised that I needed to match the vlan settings on the router and the switch and that seems to have done the trick. So now ports assigned to certain VLANs on the switch that tally with those listed under the Network tab of the router.
I have however run into a new issue in that devices get listed inactive despite being used. So using an Apple TV with a TV, both on the same VLAN, sees the TV pop up on the router’s client list as active as soon both are turned on but the Apple TV remains inactive. Resulting in the TV being able to access the internet via the switch and router whilst the Apple TV is unable to. Same issue with a home heating control - its hub gets listed as inactive despite the app trying to contact it and get it to function.
So thank you again for being willing to help out and helping me get an important step forward!
